13-06-2025
Tahlequah Sports League makes progress on indoor facility
What started as an April Fool's joke continues to gain traction.
Tahlequah Sports League made a joking social media post about an indoor facility and it has quickly grown steam over the last couple of months.
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What started as a prank FaceBook post, has turned into a full plan.
TSL has plans for a 167,000-square-foot indoor athletics facility designed by Childer's Architect that includes full-sized soccer fields, full-sized football fields, basketball courts and volleyball courts. TSL is working with Tahlequah Public Schools, the Boys and Girls Club, the city of Tahlequah and Cherokee Nation to try and get a grant through the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust.
'We're working with the city and Cherokee Nation is really helping us as far as putting together the hard costs,' TSL's Trae Ratliff said. 'This grant is essentially what they call a launch-ready program. We feel like we're ready to move dirt on this, we've got the property, we've got the plans, we've got the contractors and we just have to complete the hard part.'
Ratliff expects the cost of the facility to be roughly $40 million. If the plan goes through Ratliff says that Boys and Girls Club will work out of the facility with workspaces.
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The next step for TSL is a public forum where anyone can come and voice their concerns or wants for the facility. A date is not set for this public forum but Ratliff is looking to set a date soon.
This athletic facility will add to TSL's flag football, softball, baseball and basketball leagues.
